HC dismisses appeals against ban on MediaOne

MediaOne in its appeal contended that the charge of threat to national security had been a ruse to cancel the licence of the channel.

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed appeals filed by the MediaOne Malayalam news channel and others against a single judge's judgment upholding an order of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting revoking the broadcasting licence of the channel.

The appeals filed by the Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, Kozhikode, which owns the channel, its Editor, and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) were dismissed by the Bench led by Chief Justice S. Manikumar.

Upholding the cancellation of the licence, the single judge had held that the inputs given by the intelligence agencies against the company were of serious nature and fell under the security rating parameters.

The single judge had also observed that the recommendations of the committee of officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), based on the inputs of the intelligence agencies, were justified by supporting materials.

The single judge had also said that according to the downlinking guidelines, even at the time of considering renewal of permission, security clearance was mandatory.

MediaOne in its appeal contended that the charge of threat to national security had been a ruse to cancel the licence of the channel, which did not have any basis at all. It also submitted that no fresh security clearance was required under the relevant provisions of the uplinking and downlinking guidelines for renewal of license.

The company also contended that it had never broadcast any programme which could be termed as anti-national. In fact, the reliability of the intelligence report was suspect. The recommendations of the committee was unconstitutional as it gave its opinion without affording the channel any opportunity of being heard, it said.